The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1887-05-21

thought these characters bore some re.
semblance to japanese letters. "Some.
thing very singular about this,n OBJ
served my friend. Very remarkable
indeed. AS the plate cools these let
ters, If letters they be, seem TO- fade
away. SUPPOSE" he added after
short pause, suppose we heat the
plate again and see If we can learn
what they really are.' as
One Of Mr., Buffers apartments is
elaborately fitted up. a, a chemical la
boratory. In corner Of the room
there Is u small furnace. 1t was the
work Of few moments only to put
some charcoal into this and start fire.
AS soon as this was done, the plate.
face doWnwards, was, carefully laid
over the top of this furnace, and we
leaned over it anxiously awaiting the
result, In less than five minutes the
brown color had entirely disappeared
and the characters began to show
themselves as. before. AS the heat In
creased the background of the plate
grew clearer until at length it was puro
white. Meanwhile the characters be-
came more and more distinct, until
finally they were as plainly visible as
the day they were first transcribed.
They were indeed Japanese letters
traced in many lines Of blue and cir
cling the plate like the signatures to a
round robin.'' ali tho available space
on the plate was thus filled.
To say that 1 was amazed at this
metamorphosis would express my feel
ings feebly, Butler, more calm, was
pale with excitement.
''Take sheet Of paper" said he;
''stt down at that desk and will trans
late this for you to write down. 1t is
in the classic, or written language Of
the language OF the Japanese, and
can read 1t readlly.'' r,
I sat down as was bldden, and he
proceeded to roughly translate from
this strangely discovered scroll, while
faithfully set down his words. This
Is the story the plate told, precisely as
it was given to me that night and
copied verbatim from the notes made,
which are now lying before me on my
desk: a |.~
am Iikipoto, the son of the lvey-
asu, once the chief man in the town OF
Saga, and this history Is written so
that my children and my great grand
children may read and know Of my
great discovery. When my father
reached the middle age of life the great
IIideyoshi impressed him into service.
He marched away with a million
other soldiers to conquer the gr3at en-
pire across the sea. (This Is evidently
a mistake, for the writer must allude
to the invasion by China which took
place III 1902. There were only 16O,-
600 sold iers in the Japanese army, ac-
cord!ng TO history.-B. NJ He never
came back. My elder brother took my
parents place. and was sent out into
the world to make my own living.
Think you that easy, my children?
may tell you it was not. l had had
my slaves and knew little about the
means Of making money. had spent
my life in studies and in my pottery.
| was deep scholar In the art Of max
ing earthen ware mot the crude and
purposeless article which are now 80
| common, bGt something greater and
far more beautiful. When I found
myself deprived Of my fortune turned
to my work with renewed interest.
That was my sole object IN life If my
studies should be successful would
win both fame and wealth; If not, 1
could die. Who could do more? l
had pondered deeply over the mystery
Of colors, their admixtures and their
properties. In these studies have
discovered a new paint. That this
discovery will produce change IN the
art Of decorating earthen ware there
| can be no doubt, for by means Of it l
can reproduce at will the pictures OF
nature without the use Of the artists
pencil. can place plate prepared
with this discovery before an object
and It's lines-yes, even its, colors--will
appear on the surface Of the article.
After this has been done the ware
must he heated and then further pre-.
pared, when the picture will be visible,
to remain SO until the end Of the
world. BY this means landscapes and
faces may be preserved with an accu-
racy our most skilled artists know
nothing about. (Here the autobio-
graphy was suddenly broken Off. The
writer was probably called away from
his task and did not resume it until
some time later, how long though can,
Of course. not be told.- --B. ny
have made other experiments with
my precious paint and propose on this